Ammunition magazines are the most common means of storing and delivering ammunition into firearms. Firearms, including short weapons, assault rifles, and submachine guns, utilize and fire rounds (also known as cartridges and ammunition). Each round is substantially elongated and comprises a deep cuplike case (also known as a shell case and sometimes also a cartridge), usually of brass, which is filled with an explosive propellant. Traditionally, when loading a cartridge magazine for a firearm, the cartridge (e.g. ammunition) must be manually loaded one at a time through an opening on a top portion of the cartridge magazine. Generally, each cartridge is pressed against a previously loaded shell and a magazine spring contained in the cartridge magazine is compressed. As each shell is inserted, strain on the fingers may increase which may cause the individual's hand to become tired and many individuals may not have the required strength or dexterity to manually load the cartridge magazine. Other individuals may only be able to partially load a cartridge magazine due to the increased strength and dexterity required to continue to load the magazine as the spring continues to be compressed. Alternatively, individuals who do have the required strength or dexterity to manually load a single cartridge into a magazine may not have the strength to manually load multiple cartridge magazines. Furthermore, resistance of the magazine spring can slow the speed at which a magazine is loaded.
Loading magazines with loose rounds is a relatively time-consuming, tedious, and painful practice if done with bare fingers. Pain accumulates and intensifies as more rounds are loaded against the increasing spring pressure, thus slowing the loading process. When a plurality of magazines are to be loaded, much time is required, which in turn shortens time for reposing, training, or combat time. In combat circumstances, slow reloading can be life-threatening.
The rounds are held within and fed into the firearm from a magazine. Detachable magazines have become dominant throughout the world. The term “magazine” is broad, encompassing several geometric variations, including curved magazines. Most detachable magazines are similar, varying in form and structure, rather than in their general principles of operation. Magazines usually take the form of an elongated container having a generally rectangular cross-section, which is attached to the underside of the firearm. Magazines are commonly made of aluminum alloys, plastic, steel, or a combination. They are usually closed on four or five sides and open on a sixth, upwardly facing, top, side or end, and are substantially hollow. The top open side has a rectangular opening and includes two round-retaining members, known as feed lips that project into or partly close the opening. An internal spring urges a follower or pusher (a shaped piece of plastic or metal) toward the open side. The follower in turn urges the rounds as a group up against the lips. The lips act as a stop for the rounds so that they are not expelled from the magazine. Within the magazine, the rounds are stacked or oriented in the magazine such that the longitudinal axes of the rounds are substantially parallel and perpendicular to the direction of travel of the spring and follower. Adjoining rounds are oriented somewhat side-by-side yet offset and in the same direction, i.e., the bullets of adjacent rounds are next to each other, as are the cases. Thus, the use of magazines is a convenient and effective method of feeding bullets, in rapid succession, into a weapon's firing chamber.
A. First Problem Solved—Reloading Ammunition Magazines:
On the other hand, as mentioned, the reloading of bullets into the spent magazine is known to be problematic. Thus a need is sought for a mechanism or device to be used and incorporated with the magazine so that the ammunition can be quickly and easily fed into the magazine. The loading of bullets into a magazine entails the progressive compression of the magazine spring. Initial loading may be accomplished without substantial manual effort while the latter stages of loading, by reason of increased spring resistance and internal friction, present a problem. Typically for magazines the bullet being loaded into the magazine is held by its nose and the base of the bullet used to depress the previously loaded bullet. Accordingly both substantial downward and inward pressure must be exerted on the bullet being loaded as it is slid into the magazine. Handling of the projectile portion of the cartridge can increase misfires and jamming. In addition to the manual dexterity required, a degree of finger strength is necessary. Still further, the unaided loading of magazines is a tedious, time consuming task which consumes costly time when accomplished at a busy firing range. More particularly, the structural design of the magazine requires each bullet to be individually loaded through the top ejection end of the magazine past the retainers and downwardly against the force of the magazine spring (typically a compression spring or equal) in order to receive the bullet within the magazine. As each bullet is loaded, in sequence, the magazine spring in the magazine becomes progressively compressed until the magazine is fully loaded with bullets. Naturally, the resistance of the magazine spring (force) against the downward force of loading the bullets into the magazine becomes greater with each successive bullet loaded into the magazine. Thus, for many years, bullets have been loaded into empty magazines of firearms by hand, using the fingers to force each bullet downwardly against the force of the compression spring and into captured arrangement within the magazine. This process is time consuming, and quite often frustrating, on cold days when a person's fingers are numb, or are enclosed in a glove or mitten.
B. Second Problem Solved—Ammunition Magazine Maintenance:
In many instances, a magazine is kept stored with ammunition for ready use. In order to conduct maintenance, the ammunition must be removed before the magazine can be disassembled safely. A second magazine is then usually loaded to substitute availability for the first magazine. In order to unload a magazine, the cartridges are removed one at a time. The process is repeated when reloading the magazine. The unloading and reloading is slow and tedious, and most users purchase new magazines instead of conducting the necessary maintenance on the current magazine. No means exist in the art to remove the spring itself before unloading the ammunition from a magazine. Likewise, no means exist to transfer ammunition directly from one magazine into storage in bulk.
C. Third Problem Solved—Unload Device and Ammunition Transfer:
With the traditional magazine loaders, many are complex and require many parts. Further, the said parts have difficult configurations and drafts making any plastic molding or metal forming a difficult and costly process due to expensive molds or forming equipment and due to difficult and multiple secondary assembly operations. Therefore a simple magazine loader is desired.
Aside from the present methods for unloading ammunition from a magazine for maintenance, there are no means for directly transferring ammunition to a storage media during maintenance and then from storage back into a magazine in bulk. [One notes that there are in fact magazine unloaders (lever or flange types) but these types basically just permit one to dump the rounds onto the table where the cartridges must be picked up and loaded back onto a stripper clip or placed into an ammunition box/can.] In the prior art, reloading ammunition stored in a storage media, such as ammunition boxes or carton racks, would require taking individual cartridges from either type of container and inserting them individually into a magazine. This is a time consuming and tedious process, but no effective and inexpensive manner or means exist for loading ammunition from a box or carton rack into a magazine in bulk. By using this built-in unloader mechanism with the ammunition storage and a magazine loading/unloading device for weapons, time to unload and load are both greatly reduced.